(I just sent this letter to Matt Fleury, the president and CEO of the Connecticut Science Center.) Mr. Fleury, On Friday, August 21, my family and I were “stranded” in Hartford for the weekend. We are observant Jews, and therefore riding in cars is forbidden to us during the Sabbath, from Friday evening through Saturday… Read More: Welcome to the Connecticut Science Center. Now go away! »
August 27, 2009 [name elided] Hotel Manager Hartford Marriott Downtown Dear Mr. [name elided], I am writing to compliment your hotel and its staff for a wonderful recent stay by my family.
I’ve recently started bicycling to and from work again after a very, very long hiatus. My route home from work takes me past the Boston Public Garden: Because Boylston and Arlington are both one-way the wrong way, I have to make a loop around the Public Garden by taking Charles to Beacon to Arlington. Or,… Read More: A well-deserved rebuke at an appropriate time of year »
I am sorry to say that the “boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS)” movement against the state of Israel is once again picking up steam in the United States. The Anti-Defamation League has published a good overview of recent events as well as a response to the BDS campaign which explains far better than I could… Read More: ACTION ALERT: Fight the Israel Boycott — shop at Trader… »
I recently found myself writing a document containing mostly English and a little bit of Hebrew on Linux in OpenOffice.org Writer (using a prerelease of the upcoming Fedora 11). I was pleased to see that since the last time I looked, right-to-left (RTL) text entry has improved by leaps and bounds in both Linux and OpenOffice.org. I… Read More: Is that period English or Hebrew? »
Shmarya Rosenberg reports that the OU’s NCSY is creating a service award named after a rabbi who protected Baruch Lanner for decades, concealing knowledge that Lanner had sexually abused children in his care and smearing the children and parents who dared to go public about the abuse. It’s just one scandal after another with the… Read More: Terrified by the idea that I might find myself forced… »
This moving pro-Obama video testimonial is by Janette Hillis-Jaffe, an Orthodox Jew living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hillis-Jaffe was so offended by the anti-Obama smears being circulated in the Jewish community, that she felt compelled to respond by making this video. Some excerpts: I’m a Jewish Mother… so I worry! There was a time when I… Read More: “Jewish Mother for Obama” »
My wife and I have recently made the decision that, at least for the time being, we will no longer buy any Kosher butchered red meat (although we will probably continue to eat red meat out of our house and buy pre-prepared fleishig foods). I am writing this article to explain our decision, to (a)… Read More: Why we’ve stopped buying red meat »
I grew up the son of a Conservative rabbi in the Twin Cities. The local Orthodox rabbi was not only a member (with my father) of the non-denominational Minnesota Rabbinical Council, he also served as its president. He cooperated with the city’s Conservative rabbis in supervision of a local bakery to ensure that there would… Read More: Jewish Unity in the 21st Century »
In his weekly opinion column on August 22, M.J. Rosenberg argues that Israel would endanger Jews living outside of Israel by attacking Iran. Furthermore, he rattles off a frightening laundry list of negative outcomes which he claims would result from such an attack: “An Israeli attack on Iran—absent an imminent threat of attack from Iran—is… Read More: FUD on Israel attacking Iran »